


Butterflies and Coffee

by Gaylex_y, LittleBlondeChicken



Category: Original Work
Genre: Bad Decisions, Britain, Coffee Shops, Demiromantic Character, I’m great at tagging, Multi, Pansexual Character, Smoking, They make a bet and it’s stupid, but it’s not written, gay angst, highschool, smol girl, theres prom, toll everybody else
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 13:59:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17122691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gaylex_y/pseuds/Gaylex_y, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleBlondeChicken/pseuds/LittleBlondeChicken
Summary: Two girls like a guy, they make a bet and BOOM PLOT TWIST!





	1. Rhubarb Crumble

Those unique eyes, that heartwarming voice, that awesome haircut, that breathtaking smile...  
He’s so pretty. Absolutely magnificent. Phoebe’s eyes remained glued to his face and nothing else. It felt like a scene out of a movie. Even though she really didn’t want to move, she was still at school. So she should probably enter the classroom. She took a deep breath and—

*

Well that’s a sight for sore eyes, I think I’m in love..... Mila thought, making her way through the door.

“Oof—” 

“Shit, watch where the f*ck you’re going!” Mila tried to rub her arm, but she was stuck between the door and a girl. She had curly blonde hair and a very dreamy expression on her face, that left as soon as Mila started talking to her.

“I’m sorry for entering a classroom in school,” the girl said sarcastically as she tried to cross her arms, but failed miserably.

Mila rolled her eyes. F*cking sass queen. “Look just move out of the way ‘cause I’m stuck.”

“Well I’m trying, but it won’t work if you just stand there.”

“I can’t do much, I mean what do you expect? That I just start wiggling around?”

“Yes, please do that. I feel like I’m being groped by death and destruction standing this close to you.” 

“Oh f*ck off, I’m not even close to groping you. Really do I look like someone who enjoys physical contact?” Mila tried to brush some of her green hair out of her eyes, but found that she still couldn’t move her arms.

After a push from the kid behind them, who was trying to get in, both girls finally popped through the door. Mila threw the girl an annoyed glare to which she rolled her eyes before they both made their way over to the guy they were staring at.

*

Jax looked up from where he was practicing the chords of ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’ on the piano, glancing at the girls who were fighting in the doorway. 

Sighing, he tried to go back to focusing on the notes and getting the timing right, Jax didn’t notice the two girls approaching him.

“That sounds amazing Jax!” the blonde girl crossed her arms and leaned on top of the piano, “What’s the name of the song again?”

“It’s ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’, you dumb f*ck,” the green haired girl rolled her eyes, “You don’t know a lot, do you?”

“I do know that you’re annoying.”

“Weak comeback for someone with such a big mouth,” the green haired girl growled.

Jax sighed before forcing himself to respond, “That’s right, it’s ‘Welcome to the black parade’ by My Chemical Romance.”

“Sounds great! Thanks Jax, for being a gentleman and simply telling me what you were playing,” the blonde girl answered, looking over at the other girl to indicate she was talking about her.

The green haired girl snorted, “You haven’t even listened to it yet, try-hard.”

Disliking the name she was called, the blond girl flushed and turned away in frustration. The green haired girl followed with sheepish smile and a little wave when the teacher called the class to order. Jax plugged his earphones into the piano and continued practicing.

The whole time he felt two sets of eyes on him, but when he looked up he only found a group of students focussed anywhere but on him. Two girls did have especially red faces by the end of class, though.

***

Mila walked into Lava Java’z, their local café, music blaring through her headphones and eyes fixed on her phone. She was so focused on her Tumblr that she didn’t even notice the other person, eyes also on their phone, drink in hand, coming right at her. 

“Shi— sorry,” Jax apologised, catching his tea just before it flew all over the floor and Mila. “Didn’t see you there,” he held up his phone as a sort of explanation, “did I get any tea on you, uhhh....”

“It’s Mila and no you didn’t, but thanks. Wasn’t completely your fault anyway, I was on my phone too,” she smiled sweetly at Jax, her heart racing.

“No worries then, see you, Mila,” and Jax was off. He sat down at a table in the corner looking out at the street and popped an earbud in one ear. 

Mila allowed herself to smile a little lovestruck for a second longer before she put her usual frown back on her face. She made her way to the counter and ordered a hot chocolate with extra whipped cream and sat down at a table at the opposite side of the room. This way she had the perfect view of Jax and could stare without being too obvious. 

She sat waiting for her hot chocolate for a while, scrolling through Tumblr, thinking and surreptitiously watching Jax as he drew something or the other. After some time her thoughts strayed to the blonde girl. 

She was so........ different. Mila had seen her around before, but never thought much of her. She was just there, like ever other person at school (except for Jax, obviously). But now, now her condescending expression wouldn’t leave her mind. It was infuriating. The way that that one stupid conversation with that idiotic girl wouldn’t stop replaying itself. 

Mila knew what it meant, of course she knew. This girl was obviously going to suddenly show up everywhere she was, because fate liked to tease her like that, just to annoy her. She probably won’t even do it on purpose, it will just happen because of destiny or some bullsh*t. There was no escaping it, Mila was bound to have an arch nemesis at one point anyway. Better now than never, I guess, she thought.

Speak of the devil. Mila watched as the girl walked in with two of her friends, laughing at something that was undoubtedly stupid and not funny at all. The three of them walked up to the counter of the large coffee shop, Mila followed them with her eyes the whole time. 

Blondie, as Mila had decided to call her, looked up from what she was ordering for a minute and her eyes immediately fell on Mila. Mila averted her eyes quickly, really looking around the coffee shop for the first time in a long time. There were lava lamps everywhere, to match the name, that went very well with the dotted wallpaper, the walls were decorated with those cheesy household quotes and old wooden signs that were rotting away at the edges. Another wall was covered with a huge bookcase, filled up to the brim with books. 

When Mila returned her eyes to the counter she found that Blondie’s scowl had now moved away from her and instead turned into a bright smile, directed at the boy of Mila’s dreams. She watched as Blondie walked determinedly towards Jax, coffee in one hand and two weird looking pies in the other.

*  
With a smile on her face, Phoebe arrived at Jax’s table. She put down the two plates she was holding before greeting him with a gentle “Hi!” Jax heard her, but he quickly pretended he didn’t before accidentally reacting.

Her smile slowly fading, Phoebe repeated a slightly louder “Hi!”

Jax mentally rolled his eyes, “Oh hey, you.”

“I’m Phoebe! Didn’t expect you to go to my favourite cafe too, but luckily I was still in line when I spotted you, so I bought an extra cake!” she smiled brightly again.

“Oh, nice,” Jax attempted to sound thankful, which was quite hard, given the fact that the cake looked and smelled like something that she’d just pulled out of the trash.

Phoebe stood there like she was waiting for something. Not knowing what to do, Jax forced a smile and resumed drawing the butterfly design in his sketchbook.

“That’s gorgeous!” she praised him as she sat down opposite him, leaning over to get a closer look at Jax’s doodle. “You’re so talented! I wish I could create something as beautiful as that.” 

“Thanks I guess, I’m just sketching out some ideas though,” Jax responded awkwardly, wishing Phoebe would leave him alone already.

Unfortunately for him, she only started staring at him with heart-eyes after Jax replied to her. “Well, if that’s what your sketches look like, I bet your completed drawings can be found in museums,” she giggled.

“Doubt it, but thanks,” Jax let out a forced chuckle, continuously avoiding eye-contact. He was mentally shooing her off, somewhat hoping his mental rant could alarm her instincts.

“No, I’m serious! I mean look at it... Vincent Van Gogh who? Leonardo da Vinci? Don’t know him,” she smiled at him, hoping he’d at least look at her.

The frustrated boy snorted, “Vincent van Gogh could beat me anytime. I mean, have you seen Starry Night? I could never.”

Phoebe smiled, scooping up a piece of cake with a fork and bringing it up to her mouth. Jax only felt stupid, knowing he should have done a better job preventing a conversation from starting.

Suddenly pausing, Phoebe looked down at the other cake. She looked as if an idea had just popped into her head, and it kind of worried Jax. She then proceeded to scoop a piece out of Jax’s piece of cake, and started bringing it up to his mouth. “You must be busy, let me help you. Don’t you want some of my cake?” Phoebe asked, bringing the fork up closer to Jax’s face.

Pretending he didn’t hear her, Jax ignored Phoebe’s offer completely. The cake she bought reeked of rhubarb, something you’re definitely not supposed to combine with sweet things.

Unfortunately, Phoebe didn’t take the hint at all, “Open wide!”

Once again, Jax payed no attention to her. This time he even slightly leaned to the side in order to stay as far away from the fork as possible.

The green haired girl from before, who was still sitting across the room, had been watching the entire scenario, yet she remained unnoticed. Phoebe’s desperation for Jax’s attention was annoying her so much, if her eyes could roll all the way around, they would. She hated the sight of Phoebe, or any other girl, having the balls to talk to Jax. No matter who it was, she would always get jealous, knowing that she’d never be brave enough to sit down with him and start a conversation. Disgruntled, the green haired girl walked up to the woman behind the café’s counter to order a drink. 

After attempting to get Jax’s attention, Phoebe sighed, putting the fork back on her plate. Jax almost sighed in relief at the thought of that awkward situation finally being over. Well, he thought it was. Because just when Phoebe was about to start devouring the pieces of cake herself, Jax’s stomach suddenly decided to betray him by rumbling loudly.

“Knew you wouldn’t be able to resist the smell!” Phoebe giggled, “One big scoop, coming right up!”

“Uhm, no thanks, really,” Jax was in fact hungry, but he’d rather starve than try Phoebe’s smelly cake.

“Very stubborn. Just try, you’ll love it! Rhubarb crumble cake is the best thing ever!”

“Yeah I really don’t like—”

Phoebe still refused to let him decline her offer, given she kept bringing the fork up closer to Jax’s mouth, “Come on, it’s my treat!”

Though he wanted to keep his cool, Jax had had enough, “You know what? No. I never asked you to sit here!” He stood up to leave, but unknowingly bumped into someone behind him.

“Sh*t!” the green haired girl exclaimed, accidentally dropping a cup of chocolate milk on Phoebe’s lap. Phoebe immediately jumped up, throwing the girl a glare before running into the bathroom.

Slamming the bathroom door, Phoebe grabbed a few paper towels and started rubbing them on her pants, trying desperately to get the sticky stuff off of her. Her cheeks were tinted red from of embarrassment.

Stupid... stupid cow that she is. I was trying to have a good moment, but she had to ruin it, pretending she didn’t do that on purpose. I’m not a dumbass. Jax probably reacted like that because... because of that girl’s aura, it’s filled with hatred. Wouldn’t surprise me if just the look of her made other people grumpy as well.

Enraged, Phoebe threw the paper towels into the bin. But before exiting, she caught a glimpse of herself on the mirror.

A negative thought suddenly popped into her mind. God, are you really all that surprised that he reacted like that? Just look at you, doesn’t it seem like it’s not all that bitch’s fault that Jax didn’t interact with you?

She didn’t like it when those invaded her head, but she could never ignore them. Instead of exiting the bathroom immediately, Phoebe stopped to try and fix herself up a bit more.

Finally done after about 5 minutes, Phoebe quickly barged into the café again. A somewhat confident smile on her face, she walked over to Jax’s table again, just to find him gone. She looked around in confusion, since Jax had literally been sitting there just a minute ago, according to her.

“Yeah, Bye.”

Phoebe quickly glanced at the entrance of the store, where she heard Jax’s deep voice. He was standing in the doorway, adjusting his headphones on his head before walking out the door. The green haired girl was also standing there, throwing Jax a quick wave as he left.

Phoebe immediately flew into a rage, her eyes almost gathering tears of anger.

That cow.

That god darn freaking cow.

***

Mila jumped up from surprise as her locker slammed shut barely missing her hand that was reaching for a book. 

“What the hell?!” she nearly screeched. 

“It’s Mila right?”

It was that annoying blonde girl that she’s been seeing way too much off in the past week. She was standing next to Mila’s, now closed, locker, a fierce expression on her face. Mila had no idea why she was talking to her now, by her locker of all places. 

“Uhhh- yeah..?” 

“Right, so I’ve noticed you’ve been staring at my sweet, wonderful, perfect, amazing Jax and you need to stop. As I’ve said he’s mine, he loves me or at least he will once I tell him and he asks me out and we fall in love,” the blonde stated matter of factly, staring at Mila like she was daring her to disagree. 

Mila never could turn down a dare, “What’s your name? You know what, I don’t actually care. Jax isn’t your property and I can do whatever the hell I want! I won’t stop staring at him and I won’t back off. If anyone should back off it’s you. You don’t stand a chance with your blonde curly hair and your hippie, world peace, vibe and your ‘I love everybody and everybody loves me’ state of mind. Get over yourself, man.”

“It’s Phoebe Williams, fyi, and you don’t know anything. He’s way more likely to go out with me than the likes of you. What about your ‘vibe’, that loner for life stuff you’ve got going on, who would want to even be in the vicinity of your depressed self?” Phoebe countered, her face turning red with rage. 

“Oh yeah? You wanna bet? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure Jax would rather be on a date with me than have a conversation with you that’s longer than five minutes.”

“Fine! Let’s make a bet then. I bet that he likes me more than you,” Mila was about to agree when Phoebe cut her off, “I was planning on asking him to the end of term prom, but in light of this new agreement I propose that we both ask him two weeks before prom and then we’ll see who he likes best.” 

“Oh, you are on,” Mila smiled sarcastically at Phoebe, “good luck Peebee!” She turned and walked off to her next class, a little sway in her step just to annoy Phoebe some more. 

Since then both girls had gotten just a bit too obsessed with Jax, they followed him everywhere, constantly stared at him when they had class together and waved excitedly when they passed each other on the streets. And when they weren’t outright stalking Jax, they were bickering all the time.


	2. Netflix and Chill

“What are you doing here?” Phoebe all but shouted, startling Mila into dropping her phone on the table. Mila was sitting at the same little table in the corner of Lava Java’z as always, it was perfect, it always had an amazing view of Jax and she was almost never bothered.

F*ck, she should find a hobby instead of scaring the shit out of me every. Damn. Moment. Mila tried not to let her thoughts show too much and put a sort of pleasant look on her face, “I’m drinking hot chocolate.” Mila gestured to her half empty cup. 

“You’re not allowed to be here,” Phoebe said way too condescendingly, “remember? We had a deal about Jax.”

“There was literally nothing in that bet about not being allowed near him, so back off. I don’t f*cking stalk him anyway, that’s you,” Mila countered. 

Phoebe huffed, if she wasn’t so annoying it would’ve been cute, but alas. “Fine, but you have the only table with a good view of him, so I’m joining you. Unless you’d like to leave?” Phoebe’s innocent tone, that was obviously put on to try and get a rise out of Mila, made her seethe.

“Do what you like, I don’t own this table,” Mila said, using every ounce of her self control to not lash out and punch that perfect nose of hers. 

Phoebe sat down with a smile on her face that just screamed ‘I succeeded in annoying you and I’m so very proud of myself’. It gave off a very younger sibling vibe. 

The first half hour was spent in silence, both of them trying to stake each other out, see who would last longer. In the meanwhile they were both watching Jax, who was chatting happily with a guy they both didn’t recognise. 

At one point Phoebe got up, giving Mila a huge amount of hope, but unfortunately for her, Phoebe returned five minutes later with a cup of coffee and a fowl smelling cake. She sat down gently, placing her food on the table and proceeded to eat it very slowly and carefully. It was annoying, to say the least.

That smell was going to actually make Mila pass out, or puke, or puke then pass out, if she had to endure it any longer. She looked over to the plate of cake and groaned inwardly when she saw it was barely half done.

“If you don’t start taking bigger bites or throw away that cake, imma puke all over it and you won’t be able to eat it either way,” Mila threatened, breaking their thirty minute silence.

“Wow, grumpy much,” Phoebe said, not making an effort to comply.

“That’s my mood 24/7,” Mila quipped back. She reached over the table and dragged the plate across it. She inspected it for a minute shielding it from Phoebes hands, before making retching noises above it.

“Right, that’s it!” Phoebe stood up, face flushed red, to drag the plate back to her and away from Mila’s now laughing face. “I’ll have you know that this is one of the best rhubarb crumbles in the country and I don’t appreciate you retching all over it. Or are you planning on buying me a new one?”

“Oh, god help me, no. I can’t take anymore of that disgusting smell.” 

“Jeez, don’t be so dramatic,” Phoebe said exhausted.

“I’m gay, it’s in my nature,” Mila returned off-handedly.

“Wait, what!?” Phoebe looked outraged, “if you’re gay then why are we competing for Jax’ heart, are you making fun of me? Is that what this is? That’s so unbelievably rude, I cannot believe I even tried to speak with you. You are such a wench, did you know? Making me work for it like that.”

“Calm the eff down, Phoebe. I’m not a lesbian, I’m pansexual. I actually like Jax. Do you think that if an obnoxious b*tch came up to me and told me to stay away from the guy she had a crush on because she thought I did too, I wouldn’t roast her ass and then tell her I’m a Lesbian? Because my heart is definitely made of coal, but I wouldn’t play with someone’s feelings like that. F*ck you for thinking that,” Mila made to get up, but was stopped by Phoebe. 

“Wait! First of all I’m not obnoxious nor a b*tch, thanks. Secondly, I’m sorry for thinking that, but you can’t blame me. You did say you were gay. I don’t know all the terminology, I don’t even know what a pansexual is,” she apologised, still looking slightly confused. 

“I’m attracted to a person regardless of their gender, I just call myself gay. It’s a Tumblr thing,” Mila explained.

“Honestly though, are you attracted to kitchenware, is my plate getting you hot and bothered?” Phoebe smirked at what she thought was a well thought out joke. 

“Oh yes, I’m getting wet just thinking about,” Mila answered sarcastically, “never heard that joke before.”

The blonde snorted at that before sobering up. She suddenly had a serious, but dreamy, expression on her face, “So....... what’s your favourite thing about him?”

Mila, caught of guard by the sudden change in Phoebe’s attitude, was having a hard time processing the question. She liked this, their banter, it might not seem like it, but she was enjoying herself in the company of another for the first time in a long time. So needless to say, she was a bit disappointed when Phoebe diverted the conversation to something else. “Uhhh, who?”

“Why Jax of course!” Phoebe squealed and giggled, then leaned across the table as if she was gossiping with one of her insipid friends. 

“Oh! I guess his motorcycle, well not his motorcycle per se, but the way he looks on it, you know? It’s sooooo hot. Besides, motorcycles are cool,” Mila said dreamily. 

“Oh yeah, I like his motorcycle,” Phoebe looked a bit put out, but Mila couldn’t for the life of her figure out why, “Have you seen his eyes though? They’re so beautiful, one green, one blue. Isn’t that the most wonderful combination ever? I wish I had eyes like that, mine are boring green.” Mila actually thought her eyes were a striking shade of green and now that it was mentioned, she had trouble taking her own off of them. “Hey, omg,” Phoebe added, “you have blue eyes and I have green, together we make Jax! This was just meant to be!” more squeals came. 

“Well, mine are grey, actually...”

“Oh hush, you spoil sport.”

“We can’t actually make Jax. Your hair is blond and curly, mine is green, that doesn’t make his hair. Our average height wouldn’t do it either, you’re small and I’m smaller,—”

“I’m 5’7,” Phoebe cut in. 

“I’m trying to make a point here.”

“Yes, I know and you’re spoiling my fun so be quiet. Okay next thing we like,” Phoebe surreptitiously looked around to where Jax was sitting to admire his physical features, “his hair is amazing too, isn’t it? And he has such broad shoulders, my friends are in love with guys with broad shoulders.”

Mila licked her lips at the thought, her eyes travelling across the room to were Jax was sitting, still talking with that guy. “Yeah, shoulders....” she trailed off. 

“And his legs, you know? And his neck. Oh and I bet he has abs, abs are amazing, my friends have posters hanging in their rooms filled with guys with huge abs. Oh, and hands!” 

“Okay calm down there, Phoebe, you’ve just started naming his limbs,” Mila laughed. Phoebe made a face at her before they both locked their eyes back on Jax. 

They stared quietly for a few minutes, Phoebe occasionally saying something about Jax she likes. Suddenly Jax’ eyes found them and they both looked away quickly, faces red from being caught. They both looked around the cafe trying to hide the fact that they were staring. 

“Do you think he noticed?” Phoebe asked innocently.

*

Jax was sitting across from Max, at the table next to the window. He looked at Max, smiling as he pushed his sketchbook forward. 

“These are a few of my ideas for the tattoo, I thought it would look cool if they were spread over the length of your spine,” he pointed at the black lined butterflies, following the trail with his finger, “What do you think?”

“Oh they look amazing, dude!” Max’ eyes lit up, amazed by the drawings, “and yeah, it would be hella awesome to have them on my back!”

“I’m glad you like them,” he looked down at his sketches, “I can work them out and make a temporary tattoo of the design so you can test it out to see if you like it, if you want?”

“Ohh yes please! I love them already! I can’t wait to see the end result!” Max was very excited about the butterflies, smile so big it must hurt.

Jax put his sketchbook back in his bag. Feeling as if he was being stared at, he looked around the place, seeing some students and a lot of people he didn’t know, when his eyes landed on two familiar girls sitting at the other side of the cafe. They looked away as soon as he noticed them staring. Not again.

He sighed, remembering Max was there gave him an idea, “Hey Max? You wanna go chill at my place and watch Netflix?” He really didn’t want to deal with those girls again. 

“Yeah sure, I finished my coffee anyways,” Max stood up, putting on his jacket, “Where did you park your motorcycle?”

“Just around the corner,” he grabbed his jacket and bag and walked towards the exit, holding the door for Max.

“Thanks!” Max smiled before stepping outside, walking over to where Jax said his bike was.

“No problem,” he closed the door after them and followed Max, grabbing his keys, “could you maybe wear my backpack? That way it’ll be easier to hold on.”

“Yeah of course!” Jax gave him the backpack before unlocking the chain that went through his helmet and back wheel. 

“Here,” he gave his helmet to Max, “You wear it. I’ll be fine without it, but I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Ahw thanks! You better be careful though, I don’t want anything to happen to you either,” Max smiles as he put the helmet on. “Now, let’s go! We have Netflix to watch!” he pointed forward, attempting to make a serious face and failing.

“Weirdo,” Jax chuckled, swinging his leg over his bike and starting the engine, waiting till he felt Max’ arms around him before driving off.

*

“Yes, duhh, obviously he saw us, we might as well have had a sign hanging above our heads saying: ‘Jax, we love you’. At least that would’ve been more subtle,” Mila said agitatedly. 

“So dramatic. It can’t have been that bad,” Phoebe turned around fully, her whole body now facing Mila. 

Mila was sure the blonde was trying to hide how much she’d been staring by not looking at all anymore. She smirked, “Oh, your giving me all your attention now, are you? I’m honoured, are you gonna start singing my praises next?”

“You wish. There’s not much to praise though.”

“Ouch,” Mila said, not at all offended. 

“Well I guess I could think of something...” Phoebe made a show out of thinking really hard. “I’ve got it, you're very cute and tiny,” she had a smile on her face like she knew Mila would get mad.

“Excuse me! I’ll have you know that I’m 5’4, the average female height in the UK is 5’3. Im above average, not tiny. I’ll fight you on this, I swear call me tiny and cute one more time and and I’ll sucker punch you!” the outrage on Mila’s face made Phoebe laugh so hard. 

“Are you sure you could reach all the way up here?” Phoebe laughed harder. 

“I’ll f*cking stand on a chair if I have to. I’m hardcore and badass and my height has nothing to do with it,” Mila’s green hair and red face contrasted hilariously with each other.

Phoebe giggled, “you look like Christmas.” The girl now declared to look like Christmas glared at her, giving her a warning look. “Okay! I’m sorry, you are hardcore and badass and I won’t ever mention your height again, I promise,” she said solemnly. 

“Thank you,” Mila looked back over to where Jax was sitting, surprised to see he’d left, “Huh? When did Jax leave?”

“What? He left?” Phoebe turned around in her chair, a disappointed look spreading across her face when she confirmed Mila’s statement, “Oh, I guess we can leave then.”

Mila honestly didn’t want to leave. She doesn’t have many friends, well any friends, so this was very new for her and she was enjoying it immensely. She liked the way they interacted, laughing together, talking about Jax. Mila thought making Phoebe laugh could become her favourite past time. Phoebe’s laugh was so full of love and happiness, who could not love to hear it. 

Well love might be a big word, two hours ago she was the bane of my existence. But, I guess I wouldn’t be against being her friend.

Phoebe stood up to leave, Mila following her lead. They walked out of Lava Java’z door into the nearly dark streets. They said goodbye a little awkwardly and, after some dawdling, walked off into different directions. 

***

Jax was really getting sick of Mila’s and Phoebe’s constant bickering. For some reason they were always close to him, in breaks, free periods, lessons and they just wouldn’t give him some space, even a few days ago in Lava Java’z they were staring at him, probably the entire time. He lit a new cigarette, putting it in between his lips, inhaling the smoke. 

He heard a faint sound coming from his phone, he took it out of his pocket clicking the home button. The screen lit up showing the messages he hadn’t opened yet and the new ones, all from Max. He had been messaging him more often since Jax picked up smoking again, checking up on him and asking if he needed anything. Jax exhaled slowly, ignored them and instead turned up the volume of his headphones, trying to clear his head. 

He looked down at the always moving cars, swinging his feet from where he was sitting on the edge of the apartment building.

People are always so busy, always moving, never taking the time to stand still for a minute and think about why they’re even doing it. Just wasting time till it all ends. Because in the end you don’t even know what you’ve accomplished as an individual. 

The sun was setting, giving everything an orange glow. Jax put his cigarette out and stood up, looking out over the buildings surrounding the one he was standing on. Once it was completely dark he went back inside, put his phone and headphones on his desk and laid down on his king-sized bed. Not caring that he still had his shoes on. 

The apartment was quiet, the only sounds being his own breathing and the faint traffic noises from outside. Deciding he would probably regret it if he didn’t, he took off his shoes and clothes, laying back down once he threw them in the general direction of his closet. 

He wasn’t able to fall asleep, tossing and turning every few minutes, unable to find a comfortable position. He gave up after a while and got out of bed, put on some sweat pants and walked to his desk. Grabbing his headphones, he made his way over to his keyboard and plugged them in. Soon the first few notes of “River Flows In You” filled his mind, his fingers dancing over the keys. 

He played for hours, before stopping and passing out as soon as his head hit the pillow. He slept through his alarm, missing the classes he had that day.

***

Mila was on her way to English class when she spotted a familiar head of blonde curly hair. Mila’s first reaction was to duck her head, walk in the other direction, just plain avoid her, but then she remembered what happened at Java’z a few days ago. Phoebe was her friend now, wasn’t she? Well sort of, saying that they got along a little better than before would be a better way of putting it. 

Mila made a quick decision before she could regret it or start overthinking. She walked up to Phoebe, who was grabbing books out of her locker, and slammed her hand against the next locker, making a loud noise. She had achieved her goal when she saw Phoebe nearly jump out of her skin at the sound.

“Jeez! What was that for?!” Phoebe whined loudly, then looked around to see Mila standing there, a huge grin on her face, “Oh, Mila, it’s you.”

“Well, don’t look so disappointed, I’m sorry I’m not a specific tall, dark and handsome young man here to whoosh you away to Hawaii,” Mila said teasingly.

“I’m sorry, it’s my default emotion when I see you,” Phoebe snarked back, “besides, you nearly made me spill my drink all over my outfit.” She indicated the smoothie Mila just now noticed she was holding. 

“It’s payback, for all those times you actually scared me half to death, remember that?”

“Oh please! Don’t be so over dramatic, that happened once, maybe twice,” Phoebe exclaimed, a small playful smile spreading across her face. 

Mila humphed dramatically, but dropped it, “So, where are you heading then?”

“Oh, I’ve got French now, you?” they both started walking.

“English. That’s the same wing, right? We could walk together,” Mila suggested just a bit shyly.

“Yeah, we could...” Phoebe dragged out her sentence, “but can you keep up? With your legs being so short and all...”

“Oh, Phoebe, why must you hurt me like this?” the short girl sighed, standing on her tippy toes to look taller.

“Because it’s so easy, like taking candy from a baby,” Phoebe sniggered when she saw Mila’s outraged expression.

“Watch it, Williams, I will not hesitate to take you out,” Mila warned, only joking a little bit.

Phoebe was about to reply when the bell rang, cutting of what she wanted to say, instead she made to enter her classroom.

Quickly, so Phoebe would still hear, Mila yelled, “Saved by the bell, Pheebs, next time I’ll have you!”

Phoebe turned around and simply waved. “Toodles!” she added condescendingly. 

Mila laughed and made her way to her own classroom. 

*

The short girl got ready to head out of class for lunch as soon as the bell rang. She was already making her way past the cafeteria to eat in the library like usual when she heard her name being called. She turned around to see Phoebe and two girls waving excitedly at her. 

“Come sit with us!” they shouted, all at the same time, which made Mila’s blood boil. 

Mila did want to sit with Phoebe, but her friends weren’t really the type of people she liked. They were too excited about literally everything. However she couldn’t deny that it made her heart warm that she was wanted somewhere. So she sighed and made her way to the three girls. 

“Girls, this is Mila. Mila, this is Julie and that’s Sophie,” Phoebe introduced pointing each of them out. The two girls, first a tall blonde then a tall brunette, waved at her in turn. “Do you remember her? She’s the one who spilt chocolate milk all over me that one time at Lava Java’z,” Phoebe said matter-of-factly. 

The two girls gasped, looks of horror on their faces. They acted like Mila had just committed treason. This was why Mila didn’t like them. 

“And we’re sitting with her?” Julie asked disbelievingly, whipping her her straight blonde hair over her shoulder. 

“It was an accident!” Mila defended, “I was gonna leave, walked passed you guys and Jax bumped into me! And then I accidentally spilt Chocolate milk on you. I even tried to say sorry, but you f*cking left in huff before I could!”

“Well, it still ruined my new outfit,” Phoebe grumbled, “besides, you still got to say goodbye, didn’t you? I was too busy cleaning myself off.”

“He didn’t want to talk to either of us, so what does it even matter?”

“Nothing, I guess...” Phoebe conceded. 

“Well, if that’s all figured out, we’ll be leaving then. Won’t we, Phoebe?” Sophie asked condescendingly, “We still have stuff to do, remember?”

“You guys go, I’ll catch up in a minute,” Phoebe said, then turned around to face Mila as the two other girls got up and left.

“Don’t let me keep you from your ‘stuff’,” Mila looked away, embarrassed and a bit upset.

“Oh, don’t be silly! I know they don’t like you, but that’s their problem,” Phoebe flipped her hair over her shoulder, “besides, you’re my friend too, aren’t you?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess I am,” Mila looked happy, she was about to say more but the bell interrupted her thoughts. She got up, smiled at Phoebe and said a small, shy goodbye. 

Phoebe waved back and they went off to their classes in different directions


	3. Oh, Well F*ck

Max was cleaning the counter, wiping away the spilled coffee and tea. The bel rang, announcing the new customers entering. He looked up, spotting two girls walking towards him. 

“Good morning, girls! What can I get for you?” he put the dirty cloth away and walked towards them with a smile.

The blonde girl looked happy to finally get some coffee, “Good morning! I would like a caramel macchiato, please! Mila would like a hot chocolate, if that isn’t too much trouble,” she put her arm around a grumpy looking girl with green hair. 

“One caramel macchiato and one hot chocolate coming right up!” Max said as he grabbed two cups and started mixing the ingredients. 

“Hey, aren’t you that guy Jax hangs out with?” Mila looked at him curiously, forgetting to look grumpy about the fact that it’s way to early to be out of bed.

“Oh yeah, we come here sometimes, when I’m not working or doing other things. Do you guys know him?” he looked up from where he was working, the girls did indeed look familiar.

The blonde girl put her hair behind her ear before answering his question, “Yes! We share a few classes with him, he’s incredibly kind, but he’s always busy. I wish we could spend more time together.”

Max looked a bit sad,“Yeah Jax is a pretty busy guy.” He finished making their drinks and set them on the counter, “Here,” he smiled.

“I’m Phoebe, by the way,” Phoebe said as she set their drinks aside and paid for them, “and this is Mila.” Mila made a face as if to say ‘can we leave already?’ but Phoebe ignored it, “Don’t mind her, she’s just grumpy because she didn’t get enough sleep last night. What’s your name?”

“I’m Max, nice to meet you both! So do you and Jax hang out often?” 

“Not as much as I’d like, but we see each other in the hallways. Oh and he and I had coffee together once!” Phoebe said excitedly.

“More like you ambushed him with that pile of crap you call a crumble and started to spoon feed it to him,” Mila muttered bitterly. 

The barista laughed, “That’s amazing! I bet you he looked so mad, I love it when he’s mad. His eyes light up and get all fiery, it’s breathtaking! Have you ever seen his eyes though?”

“Oh my God, yes!” Phoebe squealed, “he’s just so pretty, like a model out of a magazine.”

“Wow, we should start a fan club,” Mila grumbled. 

“Oh my god, yes,” Max laughed, “That’s an amazing idea! He would so hate that.” 

“Ahwwww nooooo, I don’t want him to hate me!” Phoebe whined.

“Yeah okay true,” Max grabbed another cup and started making coffee for himself, “Have you seen his drawings though? They are so awesome!”

“Drawings? I didn’t know he drew?” Mila stepped a bit closer to the counter, amazed by the new information. 

“You didn’t know?!” Max finished making his coffee and grabbed his phone, swiping through the different pictures in his gallery before selecting the photo of the butterflies Jax drew. “This is a picture of the butterfly design he drew for me. I got them tattooed on my back,” he smiled.

“Oh yeah I saw him sketching them when I gave him some rhubarb crumble! They were so pretty, even though it was just a sketch. He said he wasn’t that good, but he is super talented! He deserves his own museum!” Phoebe exclaimed, happy she knew something that Mila didn’t.

“Wow, yeah he really is talented!” Mila took Max’ phone to get a better look at them, her eyes widened in awe, “And I cant believe he actually designed it for you! That’s so f*cking awesome!” Mila rolled up her sleeve, revealing the space tattoo on her arm, “I got this one recently, but it would be f*cking amazing to have one specifically designed for me.”

“Ohhhh that one looks hella awesome! And yeah I’m super happy with this one,” he turned around, lifting up the back of his shirt a bit, showing a few of the many butterflies on his back. 

Mila reached her hand out to the tattoos, ghosting her fingers over them slightly. “Amazing,” she whispered.

Max squirmed a bit when he felt her fingers, but said nothing. When they were gone he turned around with a bright smile on his face still. “I know! Oh, you know what?! You and I should get a tattoo together once, I’m sure Jax would love to make us both another one! That would be so cool!” he took a sip of his coffee.

“Yeah, sure,” Mila said casually, but the smile on her face betrayed her.

Phoebe humphed and leaned in closer to Mila. “I thought you were grumpy,” she whispered annoyed, feeling a bit left out.

“I am, but I like tattoos so shut up,” Mila whispered back, then turned back to Max.

“Oh, I’ve probably been talking too much, sorry. I guess I’ll leave you alone then,” Max apologised and started to turn back to the counter he was cleaning.

“My apologies, we didn’t mean to be so rude, how about we exchange numbers first and then we’ll let you get back to work,” Phoebe got a notebook and a pen out of her purse and started to write down two numbers on it. “You could make a group chat and we can talk about Jax some more!” she half squealed, giving him the piece of paper.

“Yass, I’m definitely gonna do that!” Max stuffed the note into his pocket.

Phoebe gave a small wave, called out bye and pulled Mila along to the door, their beverages in hand.

Just before they walked out Mila turned around with a sarcastic smile on her face. “Call me!” she called out and gave a dramatic hair flip.

Max laughed and pulled out his phone and the note he just received. He added the girls to his contacts, made the group chat and then texted Jax.

*

That one weird ass guy♥︎  
Hey, Jax!

Jax felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He stumped out his cigarette and grabbed his phone to see Max had texted him. He smiled and texted back.

 

Hi  
Hows work?

It’s okay but u’ll never guess what I did for you ( ͡͡° ͜ ʖ ͡ °)

Oh god  
What did u do?  
U didn’t buy anything for my birthday did u?  
I told u not to

Maybeeeeeee  
But thats not what I meant  
When I was working this morning there were these 2 girls who apparently know u and they were like “he’s so nice” and they said “I wish we could spend more time together” sooooooo since u don’t have a lot of friends I got their numbers and told them u would love to be their friend!

Wait  
What did they look like

Ohhh Mila had awesome green hair and the other one, Phoebe, had like bright colours on and freckles  
They were cute 

Maxxxxxx noooooooooo  
What did you doooooo

I made u friends :)

Ugh Max I like you, I really do   
but those girls are in some of my classes and they’re literally EVERYWHERE I go  
I think they have a crush on me or smt

Oh  
OH

And u know I’m not.....  
Interested.......  
In those kind of people

Oh right yeah lol  
Sorry :/

Hey  
It’s okay  
You didn’t know about them   
And I appreciate that u wanted to make me friends lol 

Can’t believe u have ur own little stalkers tho

ByE mAX

That’s so cute  
Jax becoming the maannnnn

BYE

*** 

Mila was sitting in the woods next to her foster home, there was a little hut a few miles in that she made when she was nine with her former best friend. They had found the remains of what was probably a cabin and had fixed it up using stray tree branches, rope and duct tape. There were two walls still standing, so they made a third wall and a roof, it wasn’t ideal but it was as close to a home both of them had ever gotten.

Although they always had their foster home, it wasn’t actually home. Mila had gotten there when she was five, her best friend a year later, and there had never been less than twelve children since. There was only one caretaker in their house, a man who, while not unkind, was very uncaring. He liked to joke around with the kids, but couldn’t handle their emotions and frankly just ignored them. He loved hanging out with the kids, but would exchange that in a heartbeat for a night in the pub with a few friends, leaving the older kids to babysit. Basically the man, Robert or Rob for short, sat on his lazy ass all day joking around with kids while they did all sorts of chores.

Mila’s first year alone there was hell, to say the least. 

Then when she was six a loud and outspoken boy her age turned up. She immediately hated him, he was cheeky to Rob and all their teachers and pranked the other children daily. One night Mila heard crying when she was on her way to the kitchen for a midnight snack, it turned out to be the new boy, Alex. Mila tried to comfort him, realising how bad she was at that for the first time, and they exchanged war stories about how they’d both gotten to where they were right now, at least what they could remember.

Since then Mila and Alex were inseparable. They were like the family they never had and when they built their hut in the woods, they even had their own house. They played there everyday, they would be the cool brother and sister with their perfect imaginary parents. As they got older, playing turned into dreaming about growing up and getting an apartment together, finding their families.

When they were fourteen Alex was moved to another state. They sent letters at first, but they kept getting lesser and lesser until they eventually stopped. Mila never figured out why either of those things happened but got over it after a while with only minimal crying.

Now she went to her little hut to get some privacy and piece of mind, as the foster home was always loud and busy. She had her earbuds in, like usual, listening to a mix of heavy metal, rock and punk. She thought about the past few months.

She had started off the year completely alone, just how she liked it. Then her brain randomly decided she should get a crush, on one of the least approachable guys she knew by the way. And then she had an actual enemy for a week or two.....? And now she has two friends, that’s one more than she’s ever had.

Wait, does Max count as a friend?

She didn’t really know. What she did know was that, since having a crush on Jax, she has made (maybe) two friends and neither of them were Jax. Mila knew how crushes worked, this wasn’t exactly her first one and definitely wouldn’t be her last, but when you have a crush don’t you strive to make friends with that person and not people equally (maybe more) obsessed with them? Or was that just Mila?

Another thing that stood out to Mila was that since she met Phoebe she thought about Jax a whole lot less. It was alarming how much those blonde curls and green eyes popped up in her head when she let her guard down. The only times Jax was really on her mind anymore was when Phoebe brought him up and if she wanted to have one of her giggly, girly gossip sessions, Mila would have to strain to think of something she still liked about him. 

It was like Jax had just become another guy at school to her. 

Phoebe would love to hear this, she would be thrilled to have Jax all to herself. While thinking this, Mila found it didn’t give her a good feeling at all. Actually, it made her stomach squirm. 

What the hell? 

She thought about her feelings for Jax again, she found nothing. Then she thought about Phoebe, her emerald green eyes and the gorgeous way she smiled. The cautious, but elegant way she held herself and the way she picked up things with such care. The way she talked so formally at one point, but could lose it the minute after. How endearingly innocent she could be..... 

Oh...... well f*ck.

Whilst Mila was having a small mental breakdown about this new, concerning revelation, her music stopped and she heard her ring tone. 

She looked at her phone and saw an unknown number flashing on her screen. Cautiously she picked up her phone and answered, “Uhh, hello?”

“Hey Milaaaaa, how’re you? You know since I last saw you this morning, lol,” the voice on the other end said excitedly.

“Max? Uh, I’m good. Why’re you calling?” 

“You told me to call you so I did. I didn’t right away ‘cause I thought I’d give you some more time to wake up. You’re awake now, right? I mean it is the evening. Unless you were already sleeping. Oh my God, did I wake you up? I’m so sorry!” Max rambled.

“Max, chill! I wasn’t sleeping, it’s only five,” she laughed, “I haven’t even had dinner yet. But I was joking when I told you to call me.”

“Wow I completely read the situation wrong, I’ll just hang up then I guess.” Max sounded like he was trying to hide disappointment.

“Oh, no, please don’t, what’re you doing?” 

“Well I was hanging out with Jax, but he went to smoke so it’s gonna take a while,” he sighed.

“He smokes?” Mila inquired, more curious than disapproving.

“Yeah, I think he’s slowly killing himself, but who can stop him? I certainly can’t.”

Mila could sense the animosity in Max’ voice about the subject so quickly tried to change it, “So I’m your second choice then, am I?”

“Never! I would've sent him out either way,” he laughed, “anyway, what’re you up to then?”

“Nothing much, just sitting in a den I built when I was like nine,” Mila shrugged casually, for no reason in particular.

“Awesome! Where is it?” Max asked excitedly.

“Just in some woods outside my house.”

“You gotta take me there sometime, I love dens and the woods,” he sounded like he was pleading, but Mila found it endearing.

She suddenly heard a voice in the distance calling her to come in for dinner. “Oh shit, I gotta go sorry, it was fun talking to you though and I’ll definitely show you some time.”

“It’s a deal, I had fun too, by the way. Bye!” 

Mila got up, but then she remembered something, “Wait! Before you go! Are we friends?” she asked cautiously and insecure.

“Yes, of course! Bye Mila!” Max said happily. Mila wanted to say something back, but the phone was already hung up. She sighed and made her way back to her foster home


	4. Chicken Nuggets

They walked into the local McDonalds at 2 in the morning, immediately greeted by the smell of fast food and cleaning products. Max turned around smiling, looking up at Jax, face so close to the other that their noses were almost touching, “I’ll go order our stuff so you can pick out a table!” 

“Get out of my personal space you weirdo,” Jax laughed, not even trying to get Max out of his face. “I saw a table near the window so I’ll probably be there,” he gestured to the area he was talking about.

“Okay! See you later, alligator!” Max snorted and turned around, walking to the counter. 

Jax smiled, shaking his head as walked to the table he had seen through the window when they walked towards the entrance. The whole place was empty, he set his backpack on the ground and took off his jacket, hanging it over the chair before sitting down.

He glanced out of the window, not really seeing anything besides the street lanterns and the moon. Jax grabbed his phone, checking his messages and playing a simple game while he waited for Max.

After about seven minutes he saw Max walking around some tables, scanning the place to see where Jax was sitting. Jax waved until Max noticed him, putting his phone back in his pocket.

“Hello again! I got us the 20 chicken nuggets, ‘cause I know you love them,” Max set the tray on their table and sat down in the chair opposite him, “and here is your milkshake.” Max set the strawberry flavoured drink in front of Jax as he said that.

“Yeah I looooove chicken nuggets,” They both laughed, “I can’t live without them, thanks!”

“Well good I’m here to buy you chicken nuggets then,” Max smirked, “I wouldn’t want you to die.” 

“Ahwww Max,” Jax put his hand on his chest, “you actually care about me? And you’re prepared to buy me chicken nuggets? I never would’ve hought!” 

“But Jax, of course I care!” going along with the overdramatic way Jax was acting, Max continued, “How dare you doubt my love for you! Haven’t I already showed you how much I care by buying you chicken nuggets all those times?!”

“Well maybe that wasn’t enough!” Jax quipped back.

“How dare you! This is heartbreaking!” Max fake cried, “I gave you all my love and time, and this is how you repay me?! You ungrateful goat! I can’t believe I spent my time on you, I don’t deserve this treachery.”

Jax just sat there laughing, not being able to say anything between breaths.

“You treat me so badly Jaxon Kayla Brown—”

“That’s not my full name,” Jax interjected dryly.

“And all I do is love you,” Max continued, ignoring Jax, “all I do is wait for you! In fact,” he took a deep breath and then, completely out of nowhere, broke into song, “I HAVE DIED EVERY DAY WAITING FOR YOU, DARLING DON’T BE AFRAID, I HAVE LOVED YOU FOR A THOUU—”

Jax stuffed Max’ mouth with chicken nuggets, trying to get him to shut up. They were both wheezing, making a mess of their table.

 

Max tried to swallow, half choking on the food Jax put in his mouth. “Oh right,” he coughed, “I forgot to tell you,” he mumbled.

“Don’t try to talk with your mouth full, dummy. I can’t understand half of what you’re saying,” Jax laughed. “Here try to drink something,” he reached over the table to give Max a sip of his drink.

“Thanks,” Max took a big gulp of his coke, finally being able to breathe normally again. He set his drink down and crossed his arms. “So, what I wanted to tell you is that Mila and Phoebe made a bet.”

“And why would this concern me?”

“‘Cause it’s about you.” Max smirked.

“Wait what?!” Jax frowned, “I don’t get it? What do you mean, they made a bet about me? And how do you know that?”

“Well,” Max said, dragging out the word, “they made a bet to see who you liked better and they’re gonna ask you to prom. So yeah, they probably have a crush on you. We have a group chat called ‘The Jax fan club’ where they told me.”

“Wauw, that’s messed up,” The chicken nugget addict said, but looked amused, “why are they so ‘obsessed’ with me?”

“Are you seriously asking why they have a crush on you? Have you seen yourself? You’re hot as f*ck man,” Max leaned forward, “and yours abs, like damn. You’re super smart and your eyes are hella awesome! And—”

“Yeah, yeah, okay I get it! Jeez,” Jax smiled, “that’s pretty gay though.”

“No homo, bro,” the dark blond said jokingly.

***

Phoebe was about to step onto the school bus when she spotted Mila walking by. She was probably on her way home, her earphones blaring music into her ears along the way. Phoebe made a quick decision and, instead of stepping on the bus, ran across the street to where Mila was walking. 

“F*ck!” Mila exclaimed as Phoebe half jumped onto the smaller girl’s back. “Will you f*cking stop scaring me like that?”

“But how else am I supposed to greet you?” Phoebe pouted.

“You could say ‘hello’ like a normal person.” Mila snarked, taking out one of her earbuds to talk to Phoebe. 

“Oh, stop moaning about it,” Phoebe made to walk next to Mila, “so where are you going?”

Mila hesitated, “The woods outside my house, I have a sort of... den there?”

“Oh, really? Can you show me?” Phoebe inquired. 

“Uhh, I guess, yeah.” Mila hid her face as she found herself unable to say no, even though she kind of wanted to.

No further comments followed as they walked in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the peacefulness. 

After a while, Phoebe suddenly broke the silence. “So... what’re you wearing to prom?”

“Uh, well, I guess... something I usually wear? Nothing special. I’m not really someone to whip out some kind of Cinderella dress for something like prom. I’m not really someone to whip out a Cinderella dress ever, actually.”

Phoebe tilted her head. “So... you don’t like dresses?”

“That’s not what I said, I just don’t like wearing dresses myself, especially not those big fluffy ones people usually wear to prom. I’m the exact opposite of those Disney princess wannabes.”

Phoebe snickered, “I see where you coming from. Yeah I’m not a really a Belle from Beauty and the beast either.”

“You’re not?”, Mila asked in surprise, “I thought you would at least show up wearing a copy of Sleeping Beauty’s dress.”

Offended, Phoebe placed a hand on her chest. “You thought of me as one of those barbie dolls? How could you.”

“Well, the colours and the amount of makeup you wear kind of gave me the idea...”, Mila said mockingly.

Phoebe crossed her arms. “Rude. I can wear any colour, dark ones too. And I don’t wear that much makeup.”

“I swear, if I brushed my hand against your cheek once, it would look like someone gave me a hickey on my hand.” Mila laughed.

“Aren’t those usually red?”

“They can be brown too,” Mila quickly cut in, “I mean last time I... or... whatever, I haven’t been in a relationship befo—for a long time, f*ck off.”

Phoebe laughed at the facial expression Mila made whenever she was embarrassed. She blushed quite easily, which was adorable. “Auwh, your blush is so cute!” she mocked. 

“Fuck off,” Mila growled. 

“Look at you,” Phoebe cooed, “you look like a tomato!” 

“I will take you out, Phoebe, I swear to God,” The now completely red girl threatened.

“Okay, it’s a date,” Phoebe quipped. As soon as she realised what she’d said she turned just as red as the girl next to her. 

“I... I— what? I didn’t— You said— I mean... uhhhh. That’s not what I meant,” Mila stuttered out. “But, I mean, if you—” she started but was cut off.

“Chill, Mila,” Phoebe said looking away to hide her embarrassment, “I was joking.”

Mila turned away too, trying to hide her disappointment.

She quickly tried to change the subject, “What are you wearing to prom then, princess?” Mila asked trying to sound like she was mocking her.

“I’m not a-... ugh, I’m not quite sure. Like I said, I’m not really one of those barbies. Anyways, have you asked Jax to prom yet?

“Uhhh...” Mila hesitated, she was an awful liar, but what could she say? ‘No, I haven’t ‘cause I actually have a humongous crush on you, but I can’t say anything about it because you’re straight. So I thought I’d go to prom alone and wallow in self pity’? Probably not. “Yeah,” she eventually went with.

“Oh, great,” Phoebe feigned excitement, “Yeah I have too...” she lied.

Phoebe didn’t notice that Mila lied, like she hoped Mila did. But this time, for some reason, she felt like her love for Jax wasn’t the only reason she hoped Mila’s answer was a lie. The feeling surprised her, but she ignored it.

“My den’s over there, somewhere behind those bushes. If you pass through them, it’ll probably be the first thing to catch your eye.”

Filled with curiosity, Phoebe stepped forward to pass through the bushes Mila pointed out. They were somewhat prickly, but Phoebe was rather focussing on minding her step.

Standing up straight again after passing through the bushes, Phoebe soon spotted Mila’s den. It was a small, wooden shelter, built in the middle of a small clearing.

“Watch your head when you come in, by the way. I built it when I was nine.”

When Phoebe entered the den after Mila did, which was a bit of a struggle, her mouth fell open. The den wasn’t really decorated, it had a mattress laying against the back of the wall and had a few pillows and blankets on it. The rest of it was empty, there not being much space for anything and it only having three walls was probably the main reason for this. So what made Phoebe’s mouth fall open was not the design or interior, but how homey and safe the place felt.

Mila dropped herself onto the mattress in the back of the den, “Well, what do you think?”

“It looks cozy, I like it!”, Phoebe smiled as she examined her surroundings. “Did you really build this when you were nine?”

“Yep. Well, with my bes— former best friend, Alex.”

“...Former?”

“He had to leave,” Mila said as she shrugged.

Not sure how to respond, Phoebe awkwardly replied, “O-oh, that sucks.”

“Yeah, I miss that dork sometimes. He was the only person I knew that could stand on one foot while holding the other for a full 5 minutes,” Mila chuckled, looking back on the time she spent with Alex.

To lighten up the mood again, Phoebe thought deeply for a while before taking action, “Oh yeah? That’s funny, because I’m known for doing it for a whole... ten minutes!”

Mila snorted, “Phoebe, please don’t break something right before prom, for f*cks sa—” she said, but was cut off by Phoebe already grabbing her left leg as she desperately tried to remain stable on her right foot. She wobbled a bit, seemingly almost losing balance, but she somehow kept on standing.

“Impressive,” Mila said sarcastically.

Not spotting Mila’s sarcasm, Phoebe replied, “See? I told you I was a known champio—” she attempted to finish her sentence, but she couldn’t, due to the fact that she fell over as soon as she said the word ‘champion’. She didn’t just fall over either, she fell forward, tripped over a stick that was on the floor in front of her and fell right onto Mila’s lap, who was still sitting on the mattress, her back against the wall.

Face turning red like a tomato again, Mila forced out a response, “A-a true champion, I see.”

“Oh, shut up,” Phoebe pouted.

A short silence arose, as Phoebe didn’t seem to mind lying on top of Mila at all. To Mila it seemed like she just didn’t know what to do, but in reality, there was something else going on inside Phoebe’s mind.

“So, uhm, how are you going to prom?” Mila asked in an attempt to break the silence.

“To be honest, I really don’t know, but most likely I’ll just walk. My parents won’t even consider dropping me off, that’s a fact.”

Phoebe’s answer sounded a little off to Mila, for she raised one eyebrow and slightly tilted her head, “That sounds... pretty morbid?”

Realising how her words must’ve sounded to Mila, Phoebe’s eyes widened for a second. To her, it was normal that her parents weren’t quite caring. But she’d forgotten that it probably didn’t sound that normal to other people.

“Oh, uh, i-it’s because they’re really... busy often.”

Without a doubt, Mila could immediately tell that Phoebe wasn’t being honest with her. “Uhuh, sounds like they work hard.”

“That’s right, they give everything their bes-“

“You’re not fooling anyone, Phoebe. Especially not me. Why do you think of your parents that way?”

Phoebe didn’t know what to say, neither could she think of a way to save herself from the situation she got caught up in. “Well, it’s not really that deep actually. They just really like bottles and leafs, y’know. Oh, and peace signs.” Phoebe admitted as she gestured at ‘bottles and leafs’, clarifying that she was referring to alcohol and weed.

“Extreme hippies. Sounds fun,” Mila replied sarcastically.

Phoebe was still laying on Mila’s lap, but she seemed to have stopped minding it completely, given that she’d mindlessly started playing with Phoebe’s hair. She didn’t mind the weight at all, she actually started enjoying it instead. It sent a warm feeling to her heart.

“Yeah,” Phoebe sighed.

Mila sensed the disappointment in Phoebe’s voice immediately, for she replied, “Y’know what? I’ll pick you up. You live just down the road, right? In the white house with all the flowers painted on it?”

“Yup, that’s my house— wait, really?”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Mila chuckled, “It’s not like it’s a bother to me. I’ll pick you up around seven?”

“Yeah, I guess I just didn’t expect it.”

Mila smiled as she looked down at Phoebe, who had turned her face towards her. “Well you thought wrong.”

Phoebe was about to reply, right before something inside her stopped her. Though she still tried a few times to force a response out of her mouth, she found herself stuck as soon as she locked eyes with Mila. A lengthy silence arose as the girls just intensely stared into each other’s eyes.

Out of nowhere, a sudden sound broke the eye contact between the two. It was the sound of a notification coming from Phoebe’s phone. Phoebe quickly snapped out of her stare and grabbed her phone out of her back pocket.

“Ah shizzle, I have to go. I forgot that I told Sophia I’d meet her at Lava Java’z.”

Mila looked taken aback. “Oh.”

“...I had fun though!”

“Yeah, me too.”, Mila responded, trying not to sound too disappointed as Phoebe got up and left the den.

The second Phoebe disappeared through the bushes, an unpleasant feeling rushed over Mila. But what Mila didn’t know, was that the same happened to Phoebe as she made her way down the sidewalk. She started her journey skipping, but that slowly morphed into walking, even dragging her feet. The further she got away from the bushes that led to Mila’s den in the woods, the more her joyful mood faded. But the sad feeling wasn’t about her not feeling like meeting Sophie, Phoebe loved her friends. This feeling was different. It made her feel like she was missing something. It was harder to ignore, too.

***

Mila was nervous. She was never nervous, but today she was nervous. Since her huge revelation that it wasn’t really Jax she wanted anymore, she couldn’t really keep her mind off of Phoebe. 

Phoebe is just such a beautiful girl, her emerald green eyes and those blond curls, they made Mila swoon. Her brilliant wit and floaty personality made her want to jump her —literally, because Mila only reached up to about her chin and she’d actually have to jump to kiss her. 

But today was the day, Mila had been psyching herself up for this moment for five days and now she was finally going to do it. She was going to ask Phoebe out. She’d tried before, that day in the den, but it was probably wrong timing and Phoebe had said she was joking anyway. Today it was going to go right, Mila was sure of it

She’d practiced it in front of the mirror at least fifty times and she was ready. She will stride up to Phoebe when she’s putting away her things in her locker and say: “Phoebe, I know we had a bet going on about Jax, but I’ve realised I like you more. Will you go out with me after school and maybe grab a coffee?” And that will be that, Phoebe will be hers and they’ll forget all about Jax.

“Hey, Mila, wait up!” Mila jumped, that was Phoebe, she was running towards her, backpack bouncing on her back. 

This wasn’t the plan, Mila thought, she was supposed to meet Phoebe at her locker, not in the middle of the street. I’m not ready, shit. 

“Hey Mila, how’s it going?”

“Uhhhhhhh— good?” Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. 

“Was that an answer or a question?” you could see the laughter in Phoebes eyes. 

She’s so beautiful.... shit! Okay, now or never. 

“Uhm, so here’s the thing, when we— I mean, I like— Jax really isn’t—” she sighed, “what im trying to say is: would you, maybe, perchance, like to, like, grab a coffee with me after school?” They entered the school building as Mila stuttered out her question.

“Oh, yeah, sure. Is Jax going to be there? I haven’t stal— seen him in a while, outside of school that is. I miss his adorable face...” Phoebe was too busy looking wistfully into the distance to notice Mila’s face fall.

“Uh, yeah, sure. I mean I don’t really know but....” she trailed off.

“Oh, thats Julie, I needed to ask her a question about the history homework. Catch you later, Mila?” Phoebe skipped off, leaving Mila alone and upset.

Of course this was gonna happen, who was I kidding? Why would she like me? I don’t even know if she likes girls in general. I’m so f*cking stupid. I should just forget it.

***

Jax’ phone vibrated, he took it out of his pocket to see he was being called by a number that wasn’t in his contacts. Not anymore. He clicked the off button to decline the call, and threw his phone on the bed. 

He really didn’t want to think about it but he couldn’t stop his memories from coming back up. ‘You’re a waste of space!’ Jax walked into his small kitchen, grabbed a glass and filled it with water. He took a deep breath before drinking it all in one go, setting the empty glass on the counter before making his way to his window. 

He opened it, breathing in the cold air. He looked at the always changing view, seeing the lights of different apartments, street lamps and shops, lighting up the city. He loved the city but one thing he missed is being able to see the stars. When he still lived with his parents, Jax would often go to the open field close to his house to watch the stars appear as it got darker at night.

It was his safe space. Away from all the noise. The last year he lived there he went almost every night, trying to escape his father’s hurtful words. He would sneak back in though his window, late at night. He was really glad that his father left, his mother was heart broken but knew it was better this way. 

He visits her pretty often, she’s doing way better and is very proud of him. He doesn’t think he’s that special or particularly good at anything but a lot of people feel like that. 

Jax decided to close the window as it was getting cold. He walked over to his bed and sat down. Two missed calls in total, both from the number he remembered so well. The first time after his dad had left he couldn’t even look at his phone but after a few weeks he couldn’t resist it and answered the call. 

He could hear the anger in his dads deep voice the moment he clicked the green button. Jax wasn’t able to say anything, he just sat there, frozen, unable to stop listening to his fathers words. Only noticing the wetness of his cheeks after his dad hung up. He hadn’t answered any of the calls since but he’d never been able to block the number. 

Jax was so done with the calls, the memories, everything. He just wanted to forget about him. He opened his phone, going to his recent calls and looked at the number. It has always been the same, the one he had to remember if he ever got lost as a kid, the number he called when he needed someone to pick him up, the number that calls him every now and then to remind him of the person he want to forget. 

Block caller. 

He didn’t want the constant reminder of his dad. 

Done with all the emotions of the night he put his phone on his nightstand, took off his clothes and laid down on his bed. Finally feeling like he could move on.

His phone lit up, showing a message from Max. Smiling he picked up his phone and messaged him back. They talked for a while before wishing each other a good night, knowing that they both needed the sleep.


	5. Nerves

Phoebe sat down on her bed, a frustrated sigh leaving her mouth. Though it didn’t seem like it, she really wasn’t the best at choosing things to wear, especially when it came to special events. It could take her up to 3 hours to get ready.

“Come on, this is a special night. One you’ve been waiting for. You’ve got this, Pheebs,” she attempted to motivate herself as she stood up again. She rustled through the many clothes in her closet for at least 10 minutes before finally halting herself.

With a hesitant expression on her face, Phoebe pulled out a black dress that she didn’t remember buying. It surprised her as well, given her closet was mainly full of bright and colourful stuff. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t up for trying something different for once. The thought that Mila would probably like it very much entered her head, but she pushed it away, trying not to let that affect her choice in wearing it too much. It did.

Phoebe stepped in front of the mirror in the corner of the room, holding the black dress in front of her. Surprisingly, the dress didn’t look all that bad on her. It actually made her look... different. But different in a good way.

Filled with joy, Phoebe quickly changed and started twirling around the room the second the dress was on her body. It made her feel good about herself, she felt pretty, for a change.

Without a doubt in her mind, she dashed down the stairs to get her old pair of black boots at the back of the shoe-rack in her hallway. She was so happy about her new look, she would’ve started singing if it wasn’t for the fact that she really couldn’t.

“Hi mom, dad! I am so ready for prom tonight!” Phoebe announced enthusiastically as she barged into the living room, “What are we having for dinner? Hot dogs, like yesterday?”

Her father, seemingly uncaring for his daughter, laid his head back on the couch as he blew out a cloud of smoke “Phoebe... in this, this household, we don’t eat pets. And don’t call them hot, you... you beastialit...-ist.”

Phoebe immediately sighed at the realisation of her dad being high. Again. She was used to it, but she had to admit, she really wasn’t expecting him to get high on the day of her first prom. It honestly disappointed her a little.

After Phoebe sat down at the dinner table, her mother entered the dining room with a piece of cucumber in her right hand, “Ah, Phoebe. I see you’re finally done getting rea—”

The cucumber hit the ground right after Phoebe’s mom laid eyes upon Phoebe’s outfit.

“What do you think? Isn’t it different? New?” Phoebe asked optimistically.

Though Phoebe was bursting from excitement, her mother didn’t seem to feel the same, “Is that what you’re wearing to your first prom?”

“...Uh, yes? It took me a while to put it together but I’m really happy with the resu—”

“You’re joking.”

Phoebe looked at her mom, a confused look on her face, “No, mom. I’m not.”

“Phoebe, you’re wearing a black dress and black boots. Are you going to a prom, or to a funeral? Perhaps a ritual?”

“Mom, it’s just a dress, it’s just a colour. It may not be your favourite, but I—”

Phoebe’s mother cut her off once again, “No, Phoebe. Black isn’t a colour, that’s the thing. It’s a symbol, one to symbolise the devil. To symbolise evilness and cruelty.”

“That’s not true. I’m pretty sure the devil is red, and the colour black is worn quite often, it might not symbolise positivity, but—”

“No, indeed. It radiates negative energy. It ruins the vibe. That’s why it’s often looked down upon. I can’t believe you’re willing to risk that.”

Knowing her mother, Phoebe wasn’t all that surprised that her mom reacted the way she did. She only didn’t really expect her to actually try and bring her down. “Can’t I just wear whatever makes me feel comfortable about my appearance? It’s not like I’ll turn into a different person the second I touch any type of black clothi—”

“That’s right, you won’t. You’re still my daughter, which is what I’m worried about. My own daughter willingly representing negativity. Just now I’m starting to wonder if I know you anymore.”

Her mom’s words hit Phoebe right where it hurt. To think that this was all about her simply wearing a different colour dress, it was insane.

Phoebe’s voice started to change a bit during her next sentence, “You’re really throwing a fit over me wearing a black dress, you realise that, right?”

“I’m not throwing a fit, Phoebe!” her mother growled, “I’m telling you the truth, for I am your mother and you must listen to me. I do not approve of your outfit, it represents evil.”

“Represents evil? Talking about evil, are you even listening to yourself?”

Phoebe’s mother gasped offendedly, “Excuse me?!”

“You heard me!” Phoebe raised her voice ever so slightly, “You’re the only one being cruel right now, mom! Your attitude is representing the devil!” 

Silence suddenly interrupted the fight. Phoebe’s mother looked right into her eyes, a look of disbelief on her face. She stared at Phoebe intensely, her eyes examining her as if she had never seen her daughter before.

Usually, Phoebe would keep her cool when talking to her mom. But right now, she was completely losing that patience, “What? What?! It’s me, Phoebe Williams, your only daughter, remember? You’ve lived with me from the day you brought me into this freaking world, remember? You’re my mother, given the duty to be there for me through thick and thin, remember?”

Phoebe’s eyes were filled with tears of rage that were just waiting to roll down her cheeks. Her hands had turned into firsts, and her breathing had sped up.

In attempt to respond well, Phoebe’s mother cleared her throat before saying, “Phoebe, I think you’re overr—”

“Overreacting, mhm. You know what I think? I think I’m hurting. I spent like 20 minutes trying to pick an outfit for you to shit all over my confidence, just because of the freaking colour.”

“Phoebe—”

“No! All I asked from you was a little bit of support. Just a little bit of positivity to boost my confidence. I’ve been waiting for this night for a really, really long time. I am nervous as hell. And dad getting baked on my special night doesn’t help with that at all. I tried so hard to stay positive, and just when I finally find something that makes me feel good about my appearance, you barge in to tell me I look like the devil,” Phoebe ranted, her voice starting to break, “That really hurts, mom.”

Phoebe’s mother didn’t really know how to respond. When she eventually tried to, she was immediately cut off again, “Phoebe, I think you should really stop yelling at—”

“I’m expressing my feelings, mom! I’m opening up to you. I’m telling you how I feel. But I would understand if you didn’t realise that, because you don’t know who I am anymore, right? I’m a stranger to you. You’re no mother to a girl that wears a colour you dislike. No matter how it makes her feel. Your beliefs are way more important than your daughter’s feelings,” Phoebe said before furiously pushing her chair back, getting up and leaving the room. Her mother sighed deeply after Phoebe slammed the door behind her.

Her mood completely ruined, Phoebe sat down on the bottom step of the stairs. She buried her face in her hands, which were still shaking from rage. Though the night had barely even begun, she already felt like it had fallen apart.

Less than five minutes passed, when suddenly the doorbell rang. Phoebe perked up her head, quickly wiped away the tears that had escaped her eyes and got up to open the door. But before placing her hand on the doorknob, she thought again of what her mother told her. Her words lingered in her mind like eagles constantly diving down to try and catch their prey.

It radiates negative energy. It ruins the vibe. That’s why it’s often looked down upon. I can’t believe you’re willing to risk that. It represents evil. Are you going to a prom, or to a funeral? A ritual? You’re still my daughter, which is what I’m worried about.

Just now I’m starting to wonder if I know you anymore.

The doorbell rang again, now longer. Phoebe quickly snapped out of the train of thoughts that invaded her mind and answered the door.

“Hey Pheebs. You ready?” Mila asked after greeting her with a small wave. 

“Oh, hi. Yeah, I am,” Phoebe replied hesitantly, but her insecurity went unnoticed, fortunately for her.

“Alright, let’s go then,” Mila suggested as she eyed the door Phoebe seemed to be hiding behind, trying to physically tell Phoebe to move away from the door.

Phoebe looked Mila up and down quickly. She looked good, better than good actually, but not wanting to admit it, Phoebe shook her head and mentally prepared herself for showing Mila her outfit. She gulped, “Yeah, yeah sure,” she finally stepped out the door, revealing her outfit. Phoebe didn’t notice it, but Mila’s eyes widened in amazement as soon as she laid eyes on Phoebe’s black dress. She had never seen Phoebe wearing black clothes before, and it baffled her how damn good she looked. It became an actual struggle to keep her mouth from falling wide open. “Alright, are you... are you coming?”

Mila suddenly snapped out of her stare, realising Phoebe had already passed her by. She quickly pulled herself together, replying dreamily, “Yeah, yeah ok...”

***

“Okay, we’re officially here,” Mila stated, looking at the ground to hide the look on her face.

“Yeah, yep we are, we really are, aren’t we?”

Despite the fact that Mila was an outcast, she could be quite empathetic when it suited her. So now she could tell by the way Phoebe was fidgeting with her fingers, kept taking deep breaths and how she was constantly looking around, that she was very anxious. And even though she didn’t really like to show her empathetic side, she couldn’t really stop herself this time. Leaning forward a bit to face Phoebe, Mila asked, “What’s up?”

“What do you mean? I mean the sky’s up. It actually looks really beautiful tonight with all those stars a-“

“Why are you so nervous?”

“I’m not nervous, I’m just excited! I can’t wait. See? Excited!”

“Phoebe...” 

“No really I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since I first saw Jax during the first day of school. I never actually expected it to happen, but now it’s literally right in front of me. This is the moment, the official moment of tru-“

“Why are you nervous?” Mila pressed.

“I already told you—”

“Spit it out. You’re not fooling anyone.”

“...I’m not confident.” Phoebe mumbled.

“What? I mean, I’m not psychic, but I don’t see any way this can go wrong.” At least not for you, Mila added in her head.

“No, I’m not confident about me.” 

“Be a bit more specific, Pheebs,” Mila snickered.

“My parents aren’t really supportive, I’ve already told you that. But since it’s always been like that, they never really cared about my feelings, let alone prom. They’re the opposite of empathetic, especially when it comes to moments like this.”

“Did they bring you down in any way? Because I can already tell you that that’s just them being careless dicks.” Mila growled, clenching her fists.

“My mom said I was ruining ‘the vibe’ by wearing a black dress. My parents prefer positivity and peace, bright colours lighten up the mood. But they think dark colours, especially black, are negative, like they symbolise darkness and evil. So basically, they told me that I’ll mainly be looked down upon, since I’m ‘representing hell’. I’m being negative, which is, apparently, illegal to them.”

“Literally, have you ever seen my clothing style? Some people told me that I look like a ‘lady of the night’.”

Phoebe snorted, “Isn’t that nickname kinda cool?”

“Oh it’s not a compliment. People in the middle ages used to call girls dressed loosely ‘ladies of the night’. It’s just another word for ‘whore’.”

“Well that’s a very odd insult for high school students. Really, they make themselves sound like history nerds,” Phoebe chuckled as she adjusted her necklace.

“Yeah imagine being insulted by a bunch of people who dress up like people from the Middle Ages for fun. It’s just as ridiculous as being told you dress like hell by people that sound like they’re from the 70’s. They’re always so busy holding up peace signs whilst dancing around in a cloud of smoke, it’s a wonder they have time to insult you. ‘We want world peace, but you should really make drugs legal because that never causes fights’,” Mila’s voice was dripping with sarcasm as she said that last bit. 

This made Phoebe laugh outright, a rich laugh that was so pure and amazing. Mila felt captivated by it. It felt like someone giving her heart a hug. It was heartwarming.

“There’s no need for you to be insecure, I think you rock the colour black. And I can say that, I literally wear no other colour,” Mila laughed.

Phoebe smiled brightly, “Thanks, Mila.”

“No problem,” Mila said with a smile. 

“So, this is it then? The moment of truth?” Phoebe chuckled, “I guess we better ring the doorbell...”

“Yeah, I guess we should...” Mila tried not to let her disappointment show, but it was hard. She had been dreading this moment for months, put it in the back of her mind and pretended it wasn’t true. But now it’s here and Mila might just be having a mental breakdown. Her first friend in two years and then her first crush she’d ever gotten close to was about to ring the doorbell to ask out the boy of her dreams. Boy, not girl. Mila felt stupid for ever falling for a straight girl. It’s like gay 101, you dickhead, Mila thought then mentally slapped herself.

Phoebe didn’t notice Mila’s small mental break down, as, while she was reaching for the doorbell, she was having one of her own. Could she really go through with this? Could she actually go to their prom with Jax when she wasn’t even sure she still liked him? Isn’t the fact that she lied about having asked him out a big sign to just not go? At least not with him...

Mila saw Phoebe’s hand go for the bell and moved without thinking.

Phoebe was so deep into her thoughts, mulling over everything she knew, about herself and others, that she didn’t notice Mila’s hand moving to grasp her arm. She gasped at the feeling of Mila’s hand on her skin and turned around, “Mila...” she started, “I think I’m a lesbian.”

Mila didn’t hesitate, didn’t think about what she was doing. One moment her hand was on Phoebes arm, the next it was on her neck, pulling her down to Mila’s level. She looked Phoebe in the eyes for a moment looking for, she didn’t know what, but probably found it as a second later her lips met the blonde’s.

Mila felt incredible, this is all she’d been dreaming of for the past months and it was finally coming true. She was so happy, so focussed on what she was doing that she didn’t even notice the door open.

*

“Do you here something outside?” Max asked the two people in the room skeptically.

“Uhmmm no?” Jax replied.

“I could’ve sworn I heard something.”

“Honey, I think you’ve started hearing things. Are you okay?” Jax’ mother asked in a lovingly teasing voice. 

“Nope, never was, never will be!” he replied happily, making his way to the door to take a look for himself.

“Max—” Jax called, but Max had already disappeared into the hallway. He sighed and followed him.

“Hel—” Max opened the door, about to call out to see if anyone was there, but cut himself off as soon as he noticed two girls on the front porch ‘having a moment’. “Jax? What the actual hell is happening?” he whispered.

Jax emerged from the living room, a bright smile appearing on his face as soon as he spotted the girls. He walked over to Max and wrapped his arms around him from behind. “Love, Max,” he spoke before shortly interrupting himself by kissing his boyfriend on the neck, “love’s happening.”

“Ah. Free porn. Nice.”

They both laughed, making the two girls aware of their presence. They startled, but when they noticed what was happening they looked up with wide apologetic eyes.

“But uhhh what are you girls doing here? I can’t remember giving either of you the address of my moms house or inviting you over.” Jax looked confused.

“Well, Phoebe asked you to go the prom with her and I decided to pick her up, that’s why we’re both here.” Mila said exhaustedly. 

“Wait no. You asked him. I only said I asked him because I didn't want to sound lame.” Phoebe admitted.

“I didn’t ask him either. I only said I did because I didn’t want to admit my feelings for you.” Mila then quietly added, “I’d’ve much rather asked you.”

“Feelings?” Phoebe asked curiously.

“Sort your gay sh*t out in your own time, this isn’t about that,” Jax said, not trying to be unkind, “I’m not going to prom with either of you, by the way.”

Mila just then noticed max was also here. She looked him up and down, her eyes staying a second longer on Jax’ arms around Max’ waist before she asked, “Wait, Max? Why are you here?”

“He’s my boyfriend,” Jax smiled softy before continuing, “We started dating before you guys even made that bet.”

“You knew about the bet?! Why didn’t you say anything?” Phoebe looked outraged. 

“Wow yeah, it was pretty obvious now I think about it,” Mila pondered.

“Max told me about your little agreement and I decided not to say or do anything. It wouldn’t have made that much of a difference would it?” Jax rested his head on Max’ shoulder, looking at the two blushing girls, “And Max is here because this nerd wanted to take me to prom, but my mom would never allow me to go without taking at least one hundred pictures first,” he said laughing.

“Hey I’m not a nerd!” Max slapped Jax’ arms jokingly, “You’re the one that’s always making homework!” 

“But— but— how?!” Phoebe was still stuck on the ‘He’s my boyfriend’ part, “Like yeah you guys spend a lot of time together and stuff? But, why didn’t you tell us you were in a relationship?”

“Why would I? It’s not exactly any of your business and I‘m not the type of person that really talks about that with others,” Jax shrugged, “But I love telling people about how amazing Max is.” He looked at Max with a smirk on his face as he said that.

“Oh stop it!” Max laughed, “And I don’t want to interrupt this amazing conversation, but shouldn’t we be going? Otherwise we’ll be late.”

“Oh right! Prom. I didn’t just totally forget about that,” Mila grabbed Phoebe’s hand, “Let’s go then?” She looked hesitantly up at Phoebe, who smiled and squeezed her hand in conformation.

“Onwards! March!” Max shouted, grabbed Jax’ hand and barged passed the two girls in an over dramatic march, dragging a laughing Jax along. 

Phoebe looked down at Mila, her smile getting brighter at the sight of Mila’s flushed cheeks and the little dimples of her smile. She leaned down to Mila’s ear and whispered, “Yup, I’m definitely a lesbian.” She then ran after Max and Jax, leaving a furiously blushing Mila to scramble along behind her.

**Author's Note:**

> This was an assignment for English, we wrote this with the three of us lol and we decided to post it wouwww (cuz it’s gay) we’ve (well two of us) never done this before so don’t judge please lol  
> Comment pls
> 
> @LittleBlondeChicken is one of us on ao3 (and tumblr lol but i never post shit on that, only reblog) (Anna)  
> Another creator is @a_rt_lex on insta and @Gaylex_y on ao3 (Lex)  
> And the other @TheStarsUntold on wattpad (Joy)


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